Who says Halloween is just for kids?
Those big wooden barrels of good old New Haven ale, circa 1800, began rolling out this day in the run up to the holiday.
That was the news in The Messenger, an early New Haven newspaper where the action over at the brewery is the centerpiece of the Halloween edition of “This Day In New Haven History.”
Put on your time-traveling costume, grab a jack-o-lantern and click on the below audio to begin your Halloween trip. You’ll join the New Haven Museum’s Jason Bischoff-Wurstle and me as we trick-or-treat our way through a discussion of just where this particular brewery was located back on Halloween, 1800.
It likely was not anywhere near today’s Brewery Square in Fair Haven. That was where German brewers up Quinnipiac Beer and other 19th century blends.
This brewery advertising in The Messenger was likely mixing, boiling, and venting away somewhere near Wooster Square. On this day, the brewery advertised not only that the new ale for the harvest season is available, but it will be “sent as usual free of expence to any part of the City.”
To get ready to make up the next batch, the brewers also said they were in need of a few hundred bushels of hops and charcoal. Cash will be paid if you deliver to them.
Click above to hear the full episode.
